Monthly Archives: February 2009

Patient advocates want the state to more quickly resolve parents’ complaints over payments for behavioral therapy. By Lisa Girion, LA TimesFebruary 25, 2009 Patient advocates called on state regulators Tuesday to force health insurers to cover certain autism treatments. Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica sent a letter to Cindy Ehnes, executive director of the state [...]

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Legislature passed a long-awaited budget early Thursday after an epic battle that involved several all-night sessions, sending the governor a bill that raises taxes and cuts spending to help close a $42 billion deficit. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, praised the bill, passed by [...]

Over the past few days, the CA senate has been trying to vote on the CA budget. While there is language in the budget that would minimize the cuts to our funding sources such as the Regional Centers, unfortunately, there seems to be a stall on the vote and the Senate is falling short by [...]

By DAN CHILDSABC News Medical Unit Some autism advocacy groups say that despite a ruling that appears to exonerate MMR vaccines as the cause of autism in children, they will continue to push to raise awareness that such a link may exist. Autism advocacy groups that support the idea of a link between vaccines and [...]

Today the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program/Court ruled that the combination of the MMR vaccine and thimerosal in other vaccines did not cause or contribute to the cause of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism in the cases of Cedillo, Hazelhurst, Snyder v. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Though the litigation on which vaccines may [...]

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A special U.S. court ruled against three families on Thursday who claimed vaccines caused their children’s autism. The Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding ruled against the parents of Michelle Cedillo, Colten Snyder and William Yates Hazlehurst, who had claimed that a measles, mumps and rubella [...]

The issue of whether vaccines are related to autism in any manner remains a controversial and divisive one. The tremendous financial and public health ramifications of the issue render it difficult to imagine that individuals from any community, be it scientific, pharmaceutical, governmental, or parental, can remain unbiased while addressing it. The following article, which [...]

presented by SIDNEY MacDONALD BAKER, MD May 15-17, 2009Big Sur, California Spend a weekend at Esalen with Dr. Baker, Former Director of the Gesell Institute of Human Development, co-founder of DefeatAutism Now! and co-author of Autism: Effective Biomedical Treatments, and practicing physician. Treating the Unique Child: Private Options, Public Policy and the Autism Spectrum will [...]